How to talk to your kids about the Orlando shooting

Time Magazine had a nice article today about how you might talk to your kids about the Orlando shooting. They suggest different messages for different age kids. The preschool one is pretty simple:

For pre-school kids: This is the only age which experts recommend trying to avoid the subject a little. Children younger than five tend to confuse facts with fears, says Harold Koplewicz of the Child Mind Institute, so limiting access to news and watching what you say is advisable. Answer questions, but carefully. “Remember, you don’t have to give them more details than they ask for.”

I’m personally struggling about how we as a society can have millions of weapons like this in the hands of people who are clearly unhinged. What are we thinking? almost a decade ago I sponsored a bill that allowed judges to take guns away from people who have been committed to mental institutions because they are a danger to themselves and all of the rest of us. This seems like a straightforward thing, but was surprisingly contentious. It turns out to have been one of the few gun safety bills passed in multiple decades. There is something wrong with us as a society that we cannot make balancing decisions about issues like this.

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Secretary, Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Formerly Director, WA State Dept. of Early Learning, State Representative for the 48th legislative district and a long-ago Microsoft exec.